Look Inward: A Call To Action

Just received this from one of our readers via e-mail last night. We wish that we could take credit for it as it is artfully written, poignant, and well-voiced.

Fellow VFX professionals, an amazing thing has happened recently. A tipping point has been reached and it would seem that our green spring is upon us. We suddenly ﬁnd ourselves asking each other what our next step ought to be.

Everyone in this industry can agree that the current business model is not sustainable. VFX facilities all over the world are being squeezed by their clients to accept razor-thin margins as the best case scenario, and they are passing their hardship on to the artists, engineers, and support staff that work for them because they simply have no other choice.

We VFX professionals love our jobs and we love this business, for all its ﬂaws. We often consider our employers to be partners and even friends. We want desperately to see the facilities form a trade group to protect their interests. But they have thus far been unable or unwilling to do so.

A small contingent of us have been wracking our brains trying to ﬁgure out a way to force this issue. Many of us want to go union as an industry, but we would like to see our employers take this step with us and form a trade group. However, we have ﬁnally come to the hard realization that we cannot force this move upon them. We cannot coerce our employers in to taking this leap, no matter how badly we would like to. We can only be responsible for ourselves and our own actions.

Fellow VFX professionals around the world, it is time for us to take the lead. We will never be as powerful again as we are at this moment. It should be clear by now that no one, not the facilities and certainly not the studios, will take our cause up as long as it affects their bottom line. No one will wave a wand and speak the magic words “you are respected!” If you are looking for someone to blame for your current situation, look in the mirror. And then resolve to take control of your own destiny and join a damn union already.

It will not be easy. No one will hand this to you. It will take leaders who will do headcounts, hold meetings, and generally risk their necks for something greater than themselves. But look at it this way… one hundred years ago people were getting shot and beaten for organizing. To our colleagues in the western world, what is the worst thing that could happen, you’ll be laid off? In this industry, that’s just another thanks for a job well done anyway. It won’t be easy, but it won’t be that hard.

As for the facilities, we have to have faith that once they see where we are headed they will come along with us. They will have to, or they risk being squeezed from both sides.

However, there are gestures that we could make as a community that would guide them toward the right choice and help them make this transition as smoothly as possible. Our contracts can be negotiated so that some of the additional costs to the employer ramp up over time, so the facilities have an opportunity to reassess the situation and form a trade group. Once trade group talks have begun, we could stage walk outs or protests at facilities that are not participating. We can create a partnership with the trade group and together we could revolutionize an entire global industry.

But ﬁrst we have to form a single voice among ourselves. And like it or not, that means organizing.

Many of you who read this document will approach it with an anti-union bias. Perhaps due to your political views the term holds negative connotations that you can’t explain. Some of you may believe that unions can only lead to laziness, or a rigid seniority system where undeserving veterans stiﬂe the advancement of younger, hungrier individuals. To you we say this: our union is what we decide it is. No more, no less.

To that end, as VFX professionals the writers of this document would want to see the following in any guild or union that we would join:

Hourly rates with overtime, double time, and reasonable limits to the amount of hours worked in consecutive days and weeks. (This is already CA state law. If your employer is violating labor laws where you live REPORT THEM to your labor board.)

No stiﬂing of mobility among the ranks. Seniority has very little inﬂuence upon pay rate or position. Artists are awarded positions and pay based on merit just as they presumably are now.

No miscategorization of workers by the employer.

Hold fees for all freelance employees. Minimum notice for release.

Reasonable wage minimums, varying by position, that increase annually at the rate of inﬂation.

Increased rates for artists who are required to move from their ‘home base.’

Holiday pay, vacation days, and sick days accrued over time.

Pay structures for artists working remotely on their own equipment.

A cooperative relationship with management. We are all here to get the job done with as much quality and efﬁciency as possible, and would want to see employees negotiating in good faith to that end.

The general consensus that we have been seeing online and in the workplace is that this is not necessarily about earning more pay. It is about pushing the industry to adopt standards that will lead to healthier lifestyle for everyone in the ﬁeld of VFX.

It is also worth noting, for those who are unfamiliar with the process, that no union or guild contract can be ratiﬁed without a majority vote by the employees under said contract. We sit at the bargaining table, we approve the conditions of our agreement, we enforce them. No one wins if the employer folds. Not the guild, not the workers, certainly not the facility.

Note that a global union and trade group movement does not directly address the contentious issue of government subsidies. The authors of this document believe that this is a discussion for another day. The courts of treaty law and public opinion will ultimately decide upon their continued use. This is a global industry and it will continue to be so. The subsidies themselves are the symptom of a greater problem: the VFX community has little to no perceived leverage vs. their clients. It is our belief that the formation of these entities will correct that imbalance.

Regarding Pi Day (March 14th 2013), we should turn it in to a day of solidarity among VFX artists. Wear green and take time to talk to your coworkers about what we can do to make life better for all of us.

However, we cannot settle for a mere symbolic gesture. This process must begin immediately to capitalize on the visibility and energy we have harnessed in our community. And it begins with us workers.

To the reader of this document: Set up meetings with a union rep. Educate yourself about what it would mean to be in a guild or union. Sign a card, and then encourage your coworkers to sign cards. As Dave Rand suggested in his YouTube video, let’s see how many union cards we can sign before Pi Day. Let that day also serve as your deadline. Get head counts in your facility so you know when you have majority support. Take responsibility for your situation and make something happen.

If the VFX business is to change, it requires bold action and collaboration between industry professionals at all levels. Competition will continue to be ﬁerce, as it should be, but if we succeed we will be competing in a market of efﬁciency, ideas, and innovation, instead of one comprised of fear and exploitation.

We VFX professionals have just begun to awaken. The power we hold over this industry is incredible and should not be underestimated. Anyone who doubts this should note the deafening silence from the studios, the academy, the MPAA, and most every facility in the business. They are afraid. They are hoping we will go away and forget the insults and mistreatment. But everyday they open Facebook and Twitter and see an army of digital green.

Show them that we are just getting started. Look inward for your strength. Band together around the world and #HoldTheLine against unsustainable business practices and unsustainable lifestyles.

84 Responses to Look Inward: A Call To Action

I am concerned about all of these different unions being unable to provide a unified
voice for the entire VFX industry. I think it would be much better to establish our own
international guild. That way artists in India could join, in Eastern Europe, Australia,
Canada, anywhere… Having all of us in totally different unions will just be a big
hassle. Too many cooks in the kitchen…

I suggest we come up with a “guild card” that artists can sign, to show their willingness
to join an international fx guild. Have artists at each vfx facility print out the cards, and have all their
co-workers sign them. We need to do this personally. Artist to artist. Talk to your co-workers.
Make sure they are ALL on board. Make sure *everyone* signs the cards. Split it out by department. Pick a rep for each department, and have them go around and get their co-workers to sign the cards. Then hand them all in once the whole facility is on board. If this stuff all happens online, tons of people will miss out, or be lazy, and not bother. If you show up in their cubicle, with a card, and ask them to sign, they will probably do it. Relying on people to do this stuff online is a long-shot at best. 20% of my co-workers aren’t even following this stuff online. I have to tell them what is going on. They only use email, and aren’t on Facebook, don’t check all the blogs, etc. So if you try to do this only online, you will miss a ton of people.

1. As of right now, we don’t have the resources to form an entirely new union. Since all of the major studios are based in the United States and they all have operating CBAs with IATSE, we think it best to stick with them. Both Vancouver and LA will be covered under the same union, and BECTU and IATSE are sister labor organizations. Your point regarding fractured and potentially disorganized local unions is very valid, but at the moment we must rally behind a group who has all of the existing organization, bargaining, and infrastructure in place.

2. You are absolutely right. Many people don’t use Facebook, Twitter, and various other social media outlets and online resources. The best, most effective way to get the word out is to talk about it. But when that conversation undoubtedly leads to “is there a place online where I can get more information?”, please refer them to either OccupyVFX Union Info or vfxunion.info home page.

Well written and thought provoking; I don’t know how I feel about a union or how this extends internationally but I think this is a great article.
But PLEASE: can we start asking for maternity/paternity leave already? Because a. some of us (like me) are women! and b. procreation is not just a woman’s problem! (I’ve seen more than one dad working like crazy away from their infant child because they had no choice).

International union – not possible currently with any legal binding. If US workers (or workers anywhere) can unite legally and contractually, then others will follow and use that as a starting point hopefully. Cards are fine but if there’s no legal contract that backs them up with the companies, then it would be difficult to do anything. Of course the workers united in an area could take a stand and force some issues but that’s only if everyone participates.

One TGI I’ve pushed for is to also have companies sign a code of conduct so its their responsibility to provide at least a base level of working conditions.

RESIDUAL: A payment made to a performer, writer, A R T I S T or director for each repeat showing of a recorded television show or commercial. Often used in the plural.

This is a concept I can get behind. I once recall (during “SHREK” I believe) a VFX friend who worked on the film told me they got a back-end box office bonus of somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000.00 USD. Other artist roles may have differed slightly in their individual awards – on that topic I do not know much. Just sharing this little story.

I will say that this whole recent VFX upheaval has been interesting. A lot of wrong has been going on for far too long. It is time for some drastic change. Personally? I blame greed. Artists need respect.

Being outside the U.S., how does one begin? How do we start a groundswell of activity to bring recognition to a subject like this? What button do I push first? I don’t have a “RESIDUAL” button on my keyboard.

As one who has worked in 3d vfx, motion capture, video games, and live events of over 14 years in roughly 15 nations (having lived in 4), I cannot think of a worse idea for the industry than unionization. While the language might suggest a relatively benign “trade group”, the end goal is crystal clear; unionization. With competition being more fierce than ever and previously 3rd world nations rapidly ramping up on the technology, a union only serves to hobble any group foolish enough to join. There are a number of reasons and here are a few;

1.Other entertainment unions, such as SAG-AFTRA, have a small percentage of members (estimates vary, but most sources claim less that 10% of members work with any regularity) that are working at any given time, so even with a strong union, there is absolutely no guarantee that such a union will increase the number of those employed in the industry. I cannot count how many “actors” I have met who worked their asses off to become a member of the Union and when they finally do -they still wait on tables. And, because unions impose expensive barriers to employers, a union is much more likely to decrease the number working, favoring instead non-union labor which is often outsourced. The fact is, labor unions DO make hiring much more difficult, particularly for the less skilled. The piece attempts to assuage this by saying “To you we say this: our union is what we decide it is. No more, no less.” That is not terribly reassuring to me, mainly because the demands demonstrate a serious lack of understanding about basic economics.

2.Unions have a poor track record. While many unions have formed, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th century, to exclude non-white or catholic (often Irish) people from the labor pool, I don’t suspect the intentions of the above to be as nefarious. Nevertheless, unions have done a poor job in “protecting” their members in the last several decades. Some of the most frequently financially troubled industries in the U.S. and the world are heavily unionized; particularly the U.S. Automotive sector and Airlines, meanwhile non-unionized sectors do comparatively well; engineering and consumer electronics for example.

3. Unions, because they make domestic production more expensive, make foreign competition become much more attractive. Consider the Automobile; for a foreign competitor to go up against, say, Ford, they will need a large production plant, access to plastic and steel, a shipping fleet and all associated infrastructure. By contrast, visual effects can be made anywhere there is the talent, computers and internet access. Ive worked in India and China, Ive seen the render farms and armies of artists myself. How much longer before Brazil, Indonesia, Eastern Europe, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Argentina are able to produce the same quality work as anywhere in the US, Canada or Western Europe? 15 years ago, who would have guessed that Lucasfilm would open up shop in Singapore, or that New Zealand would produce some of the best graphics in the world? But this attitude isn’t new. After WW2, no one would have thought that the Japanese could build good cars, much less compete against GM or Ford…until they did, and today the Japanese produce some of the best cars in the world.

4.Unions are about politics, not work. This one should really go without saying, and yet the danger of blacklisting “scabs”, should not be ignored. All it takes is for someone to be willing to work outside the union framework for him or her to be labeled and barred from future employment. Why? Because he or she needed work. Unions also occasionally make political contributions or hire lobbyists, sometimes without the consent of the members.

5. Unions limit the amount of work that is done – by everyone. In 2000, I was working a live show in Chicago which had, among other things, lots of graphics and a real-time 3d character which was what I was working on. The teamsters unloaded the trucks, set up the light trusses and things like that, but the technical work was left to the specialists -us. So merrily we worked along until the teamsters broke for dinner, but we decided to skip dinner so we could finish up early. That was when we were approached by the head event organizer who told us that if the Teamsters were not working, we must not work. Why? Because they would walk off the job if they perceived any action taken that would “show them up” or “diminish their capacity”. In other words we had to sit and wait, burning up our time, while the union ate. This is not a unique occurrence. The late Director Sidney Lumet mentions the Teamsters in a similar way in his book “Making Movies” but in reality, any sufficiently powerful union can do the same thing. Imagine there is a dispute in the rendering department -does that mean the animators or riggers must stop work as well? I personally know many artists who went without work and struggled terribly during the 2007-2008 WGA strike, even though.

6.Union demands are so expensive, only large companies can afford to comply. Speaking only for myself, but I like the industry to be a mix of boutique, medium and large scale companies scattered across the globe, but when demands are made “industry wide”, the smallest companies suffer the most. This is economics 101.

7. Union dues pay for a lot of dumb things. The larger a union becomes, the more expensive it gets because there is simply more paperwork to do, more representatives to pay (Ive never met a union rep that worked for free), and, quite often, an office from which to work. Needless to say, the union dues are the hardest to endure for the artists who are starting out.

8. Unions do not lend themselves well for freelance artists. Flexibility is key for any freelancer. Often, a freelance artist is brought in as a hired gun; get in quick, do a ton of work in a short time, and get out. While many do not care for this kind of work, many do and owning to the bureaucratic nature of unions along with all of their imposed restrictions, these extremely valuable “hired guns” can be excluded from the workplace. Needless to say, “side work”, which most VFX artists have done from time to time, is a no-no for Unions.

9. Unions operate by the same rules of many bad productions; by committee. Whenever a Union decides to go into a new direction or to make a new rule or issue a new demand, there are two ways of doing this; a ballot vote, or the committee makes the decision on its own. In the latter case, the privileged few decide the potential fate of members and those decisions may very well be made on political grounds. In the former case the majority decides the fate of the minority leaving little to no room for independent actions. And, of course, the vast majority of people have no education on long term economic matters, yet these same people cast votes on (occasionally) profoundly economic matters.

There are also a number of issues with the various proposals listed above, for example the issue of Royalties. Royalty structures are notoriously difficult to calculate for and complex production, particularly when the work is divided among so many, often in different nations. Add the fact that many productions, such as commercials, print ads, some broadcast products and game expansion packs are not “sold” in general, therefore no royalty structure can exist.

I also question one of the opening statements;

“Everyone in this industry can agree that the current business model is not sustainable.”

According to whom? Certainly some businesses will close, some new ones will open up, new artists will enter the work place and others will leave…but the industry as a whole will continue as long as visual effects are in demand. One cannot and should not paint the entire industry with so broad a brush simply because every business (and person) has a different business model.

“VFX facilities all over the world are being squeezed by their clients to accept razor-thin margins as the best case scenario, and they are passing their hardship on to the artists, engineers, and support staff that work for them because they simply have no other choice.”

No one wants to pay more for something than the necessary minimum, and visual effects customers are no different. But closely examine the statement “They simply have no choice.” So does this mean demanding MORE from them will suddenly increase their margin or give them a choice they would not otherwise have? Where is this larger margin supposed to come from? The VFX production house might not have a choice, but guess who does? The guys with the money. Squeeze them and they will shop elsewhere, and people can dream about an “international union”, but reality dictates otherwise. A comparatively poor artist in Asia or South America would rather work today, for less money than his US/Canadian/British/Australian counterparts and he doesn’t particularly care about whatever political battles are happening overseas. In other words, a “1st world” artist might be able to afford to strike -one from an emerging economy cannot.

A Union is not the correct course of action for the VFX industry, for it would serve no other purpose than to benefit a few at the expense of the many by barring entry. Essentially, a Union for VFX, as it has done for Actors, Writers and Directors, would be akin to pouring sand in the gears of an otherwise dynamic and ever-evolving industry.

Thank you for the thorough response. Your differing point of view is very welcome as it spawns discourse on the subject.

WIth that said, your views of unions appear to be a personal opinion. While we are not contesting that some of these points are valid and worthy of discussion, the biggest problem we have with your treatise above is that you do not offer a solution; rather, you opine about your personal distaste of unions through a bevy of talking points.

There are many problems facing our industry today. Artists are going without pay for extended periods of time. People are being forced to work grueling hours with little to no extra compensation or overtime. Many people working in the US have no health care benefits. Our clients will continue to chase tax subsidies in overseas locales, and force families to move and relocate multiple times along the way.

While you may have done well during your fourteen years in the business, the majority of us believe that the future outlook of business is bleak at best.

Do you believe that working conditions throughout the entire industry need to be improved? If you do, would you mind proposing a solution that is an alternative to unionization?

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